1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to storage racks (e.g., cabinets) for computing devices such as servers, and more particularly to a rail assembly for a storage rack that can be selectively adjusted to accommodate storage racks of varying sizes and then locked to control relative movement between first and second telescoping members of the rail assembly.
2. Relevant Background
Servers and other computer devices are often stored in cabinets or racks. Each of these cabinets or racks may contain numerous servers in a stacked or side-by-side arrangement. For example, a server cabinet may house 5 to 10 servers behind each door. It is desirable for each server to be installed and/or serviced without affecting operation of the other servers, and, in many cases, it is desirable for each server to be maintained or accessed without disconnecting it from power or communications/network links (e.g., to provide hot swappable and maintainable servers in an enterprise or data center environment).
To this end, each server is typically mounted within the cabinet or storage rack using a rail, slide or rack-mount kit. A rail kit typically includes a pair of outer rail assemblies, each of which is attached to vertical support members (e.g., Radio Electronics Television Manufacturers Association (“RETMA”) rails) of the storage rack frame and extends horizontally to define a server mounting location within the storage rack or cabinet. Each outer rail assembly is mated with or otherwise interconnected with a middle rail or middle member of the rail kit. The middle rail often will be supported within an inner channel or groove of the outer rail assembly and the middle rail may be positioned by sliding within the outer rail assembly between retracted and extended positions. In the extended position, the middle rails typically extend outward from the ends of the outer rail assemblies several inches to a foot or more to allow access to an attached or supported server or other computing device. In the retracted position, the middle rail has its outer end positioned within the outer rail.
To mount a server in the rack, a pair of inner or rack rails is attached to an outer surface of a server (or other computer device) chassis, and each of the inner or rack rails is coupled with or otherwise interconnected to a corresponding one of the middle members or rails. Generally, a server is mounted within the server storage rack by extending out the middle rail, aligning the ends of the both of the inner or rack rails on the server chassis with the ends of the middle rails, and, once proper alignment is achieved on both sides, pushing on the server chassis to cause the inner rails or racks to mate or couple with the middle members or rails (e.g., in a tongue-and-groove manner) as the inner rails slide within channels or grooves of the middle member or rails. Continued pushing then causes the middle member or rail to slide within the outer rail or member from the extended position to the retracted position, which allows the storage rack door to be closed.
Each of the outer rail assemblies may include a pair of nested, sliding rails (e.g., first and second sliding rails). For instance, as the distance between the front and rear vertical support members of the rack may vary from rack to rack, the sliding rails of each outer rail assembly may be adjusted to accommodate such differences in rack or cabinet sizing. Moreover, the sliding rails of the outer rail assemblies are free to move or slide relative to each other and are only restricted from moving or sliding relative to each other (e.g., in an axial direction) by way of their interconnection with the front and rear vertical support members (e.g., by way of snap features, pin/hole arrangements, screws, bolts, and the like).